1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a food service conveyor, and more particularly, to such conveyors that include a plurality of trays that are filled by operators positioned around the periphery of the conveyor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several conveyors have been designed and used in the past to mechanise the transportation of food products through conveyor systems mounted on tables. These conveyors are usually circular or endless conveyors and they require a minimum radius of curvature at the turning points. This characteristic causes a dead space on the middle section of the conveyor that is usually mounted on top of a table or other assembly. The greater the radius of curvature of the conveyor the more inaccessible the middle section is to the operators.
One of these conveyor designs is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,845 issued on Aug. 12, 1980 to Tashman and Onorl. The former being the inventor and applicant of the present application. In this patent the conveyor is mounted on an elongated rectangular table top over which an articulated slat conveyor belt is driven through a circular tracking slot. It is inherent in the design of this type of conveyor that, unless the trays are made very narrow, the radius of curvature at the turning points create a useless island on the middle of the table.
Another attempt to provide a space efficient apparatus for use in assembling food on trays is disclosed in U.S. reissue Pat. No. 29,767 which was originally issued as U.S. Pat. No. 3,926,489 on Dec. 16, 1975 to Futch.
Other patents describing the closest subject matter provide for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention.